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Sunday, October 3, 2010

Coming Soon - Toronto SpecFic Colloquium

ChiZine Magazine is sponsoring a fabulous one day event at Hart House in Toronto on October 23 featuring a stunning lineup of 11 speculative fiction authors including Kelley Armstrong, Guy Gavriel Kaye, Peter Watts, Karl Schroeder, Julie Czerneda, Tony Burgess, David Nickles, Gemma Files, Claude Lalumiere, Micahel Rowe and Robert Boyczuk. The full details are in the press release below or you can visit their website.

Register now because seating is limited. For those considering attending, I have included the Program Schedule at the end of the post which includes both lectures and readings.

TORONTO, ON (September 7, 2010) – On October 23, 2010 authors, editors and readers will gather to explore the state of speculative fiction in Canada at Toronto’s SpecFic Colloquium.

Canadian speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, horror, etc.) has been increasingly recognized internationally for the calibre of its authors and their insight into the nature of social and religious identities, the implications of new technologies, and the relationship between humankind and its environments. “Our authors are breaking out of the genre ghetto,” says co-organizer Helen Marshall. “Their stories disrupt habits, overcome barriers of cultural perception to make the familiar strange. They show us the speculative fiction can be an ideal tool for social examination and critique.”

The colloquium, a one-day event to launch the Chiaroscuro Reading Series, will deliver lectures by major names in the field on topics including urban fantasy, cognitive science, queering the genre, and the spread of Canadian science fiction. The lectures will be followed by readings that showcase emergent and experienced Canadian speculative fiction writers.

Sponsored by ChiZine Publications, an independent publisher of weird, surreal, subtle, and disturbing dark literary fiction, the Toronto SpecFic Colloquium will take place on Saturday October 23, 2010 in the Music Room,Hart House, 7 Hart House Circle. Register at http://www.specfic-colloquium.com/registration.htm.